Certain electrical connectors contain an array of electrical contacts having pin sections coextending from a mounting face of the connector to be received into respective through-holes of a circuit element such as a mother board to become electrically connected with circuits of the board. The dielectric housing of the connector includes passageways in which the contacts are respectively retained in selected spacings and positions so that the pin sections coextend in a selected pattern. Such connectors are adapted to be affixed to edges of daughter cards on an opposed or second face of the connector, with the contacts including other contact sections electrically connected to circuits on major surfaces of the daughter card proximate the edge thereof. Many such connectors are of the type including a card-receiving recess thereinto, with the other contact sections disposed along sides of the recess to enter biased engagement with the corresponding card traces, all permitting withdrawal of the card therefrom during unmating. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,694.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,975, such a card edge connector utilizes a flexible circuit within the mating face of the connector in lieu of discrete contact spring arms arrayed along the card-receiving recess, and provides a biasing arrangement to exert pressure on the flexible circuit to provide the necessary normal force for the electrical connection of the traces of the flexible circuit to the traces of the daughter card. Also see U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,835 wherein a resilient conductive support layer of the flexible circuit provides a ground to which alternating trace termini are commoned in a controlled impedance connector system.
Certain card edge connectors are mechanically affixed to the daughter card at the edge, such as with the other contact sections comprising right angled pin sections inserted into through-holes of the daughter card and soldered for example to be electrically connected with the card traces, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,470. U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,147 discloses a connector in which a flexible circuit element is secured to the connector along the card edge connecting face, with circuits thereof electrically connected to corresponding contact sections of the connector and extend to exposed circuit termini remote from the contact sections which are solderable to traces of the daughter card, thus interconnecting the daughter card traces to the connector contacts and to the mother board.
It is desired to provide a board-mountable connector having a very low profile to interconnect an edge of a daughter card to a mother board perpendicularly.